Computer-aided-design of flywheels

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Abstract

We have presented in this work, a computer-aided-design software for flywheels using object-oriented programming approach of Visual Basic. The various configurations of flywheels (rimmed or solid) formed the basis for the development of the software. The software's graphical features were used to give a visual interpretation of the solutions. The software's effectiveness was tested on a number of numerical examples, some of which are outlined in this work.

Introduction

Flywheels are machine elements that are basically used to regulate variation of speed in an engine, by redistributing energy within a cycle. Thus flywheels are needed where there is variation in the input power and the output load is constant or if the output load varies and the input power is constant. Flywheels find applications in a number of machines like internal combustion engines and punch presses.

In designing the relevant algorithms, for this software, we followed standard design methodologies well treated in a number of machine design texts [2], [3], [4], [6]. A number of variables were considered in this work, some of which include: the mass, velocity, stress, density, etc.

The implementation of computer based tools in flywheel design is evident in optimal flywheel designs and the use of composite materials in the fabrication of flywheels. For instance, Eby et al. [1] studied the optimal design of flywheels using an injection island genetic algorithm scheme which incorporates a finite element scheme. The purpose of this work is basically to develop and implement computer software that would greatly enhance an accurate design of flywheels. Thus the problem addressed was:

  • To provide very accurate and efficient solutions for flywheel computation process.

  • To reduce the computational complexity and arduous task usually encountered in the design.

  • To provide a visual display of the solutions, so as to easily and speedily interpret these solutions.

  • To enable all flywheel parameters (variables) to be easily designed for.

In this work, we present the relevant design equations used in developing the software in Section 2.0, while in Section 3.0, the programme testing is presented using a number of typical engineering design problems. Discussion of the programme's performance is presented in Section 4.0.

Section snippets

Design of software model

In designing the software, the relevant machine design equations (Eqs. (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16), (17)), see refs. [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], considered to cover a wide range of possible configurations of flywheels design problems, were assembled and carefully programmed using object oriented programming techniques of Visual Basic [7]. These formulae are presented as follows:

Examples to illustrate the use of the software

To illustrate the effectiveness of this software, the following numerical examples were considered.

Discussion

This software was tested for this paper on 10 examples, in which both solid and rimmed disk flywheels were considered. The results displayed (shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 5, Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 9, Fig. 10, Fig. 11, Fig. 12) by the software, depending on the problem definition, provide the designer with exact numerical values of the flywheel parameters being designed for. For designs involving the mass of rim required, the software provides a graphical representation of mass of the

Conclusion

In this work, we have designed and implemented a computer algorithm that enables computer-aided design of flywheel, under a wide range of practical problem configurations, as illustrated through the various examples considered. The software performs accurately and efficiently. It is robust to parameter variations. Its graphical features provide solutions that extend it from the initial design consideration to variations in the desired design parameter, while the other parameters remain

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